tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323167987164959411.post6640008457663748098..comments2024-02-11T08:44:50.489+00:00Comments on Peter A Bell: Scotland & NATO: The real debatePeter A Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204261467942498747noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323167987164959411.post-85435168689997684172012-04-21T18:58:39.075+01:002012-04-21T18:58:39.075+01:00I don't have a problem with people pushing a p...I don't have a problem with people pushing a particular position as part of a wider debate. But I'd like to think somebody will be spelling out alternatives to NATO. I have in mind developments in defence policy and capability within the European Union. How does an independent Scotland fit in there?Peter A Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204261467942498747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323167987164959411.post-39315129561353642982012-04-21T17:33:50.948+01:002012-04-21T17:33:50.948+01:00I agree that there are clearly alternatives to NAT...I agree that there are clearly alternatives to NATO. Since the Berlin Wall came down and the 1991 putsch failed in the fUSSR NATO has had something of the spirit of Cavafy's <i>Waiting for the Barbarians</i> about it: "Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians? Those people were a kind of solution."<br /><br />Debate is good, although we have to be careful not to allow others to set limits to that debate. And that, I fear, is what will happen when we debate defence. We've already had Murphy in the Guardian, Chalmers of RUSI, and now Kerevan in the Scotsman telling us that we can't possibly do other than join NATO, all for different reasons. But that's no more convincing than the contrary position - NATO is the Evil Empire - put forward on the left.Angus McLellanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14238976801715524150noreply@blogger.com